What BFCSA Does...

BFCSA investigates fraud involving lenders, spruikers and financial planners worldwide. Full Doc, Low Doc, No Doc loans, Lines of Credit and Buffer loans appear to be normal profit making financial products, however, these loans are set to implode within seven years. For the past two decades, Ms Brailey, President of BFCSA (Inc), has been a tireless campaigner, championing the cause of older and low income people around the Globe who have fallen victim to banking and finance scams. She has found that people of all ages are being targeted by Bankers offering faulty lending products. BFCSA warn that anyone who has signed up for one of these financial products, is in grave danger of losing their home.

Cartoon Corner

BFCSA Blog

Led by award-winning consumer advocate Denise Brailey, BFCSA (Inc) are a group of people who are concerned about the appalling growth of Loan Fraud around the world. BFCSA (Inc) is a not for profit organisation in the spirit of global community concern and justice.

Recent posts from this category

To Prime Minister Morrison
My Husband and myself invested our money into Sterling New Life for security and assurance and a 40 yr lease.
At the time of signing in October 2017, we signed up with them for an eazy-move contract which assured us that we could move into this house when our previous house was sold.
We moved here on 31st January 2018 but in November last year my Husband was diagnosed with Cancer. He passed away in April this year and then on top of that, I got the bombshell that SNL was going into liquidation.
I was totally shocked and appalled that at 78yrs of age, I was going to lose all my money and not only that, to have to exist on a single pension!
Why is it that ASIC has sat back and done stuff all to help, not only me but all the other...

ASIC tallies Westpac’s responsible lending law breaches
The Australian 12:00am May 7, 2019
Anthony Klan
Westpac broke responsible lending laws more than 260,000 times in just over three years, the corporate watchdog had told the Federal Court in Sydney this morning.
Lawyers for the Australian Securities & Investments Commission said between December 2011 and March 2015, Westpac engaged in a “systematic approach” of ignoring the living expenses loan applicants had stated on application forms. Instead it relied on broad living expense “benchmarks”, which, if they were true, would in some cases have meant the loan applicant was already living on, or close to, the poverty line, ASIC told the court.
ASIC said Westpac failed to properly verify the actual financial positions of borrowers a total of 261,987 times.
In 154,351 of those cases, the bank also failed to use correct figures when assessing if borrowers taking out interest-only loans could...

ASIC responsible lending crimps credit: ANZ and NAB
John Kehoe
27 March 2019
https://www.afr.com/news/economy/asic-responsible-lending-crimps-credit-anz-and-nab-20190327-p517xu
ANZ Banking Group and National Australia Bank are at loggerheads with corporate cop James Shipton, who has slammed bankers for spreading a "myth" that the regulator's responsible lending crackdown is exacerbating a credit squeeze.
ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliot said bankers reacting cautiously to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission's more stringent application of lending standards meant some home buyers and businesses "will find it harder to borrow". He also rebuffed ASIC chief prosecutor Dan Crennan's ambitions to lock bankers in jail, in response to questions from Liberal MP Tim Wilson about unintended consequences from a royal commission-inspired clampdown. "People should pay the consequence of poor behaviour or misconduct or breaking the law," Mr Elliott said at a parliamentary hearing in Canberra.
"I would have thought the right outcome here is not how many people are in jail but do we have a fully functioning financial system that is responsible and generating good outcomes for our...

NAB axes controversial home loan referral program
Sydney Morning Herald March 25, 2019 6.14pm
Clancy Yeates
Real estate agents, lawyers and sports clubs will no longer be able to receive payments from National Australia Bank for helping sell home loans, in a move aimed at rebuilding trust after the bank's reputation took a battering at the royal commission.
Acting chief executive Phil Chronican on Monday announced the axing of NAB's "introducer" scheme, to take effect from October, saying that scrapping the payments was "the right thing to do".
Referral schemes, such as NAB's introducer program, are used by banks as a way of drumming up business. They involve paying a type of spotter's fee to people who refer customers to the bank if they end up taking out a loan.
NAB made nearly $100 million in such payments between 2013 and 2016, offering commissions of 0.4 per cent of loans,...

The big banks' nice earners are melting away
Australian Financial Review Mar 22, 2019 11.00pm
Karen Maley
After months of crippling humiliation before the Hayne commission, the last thing the country's big four banks wanted was another portent of looming competition.
But that's exactly what they got in September when the country's largest super fund, AustralianSuper, announced it was committing £230 million ($425 million) to finance a new office, hotel and residential unit development in London, known as One Crown Place.
It was a logical next step for AustralianSuper, which had already lent some $1 billion to Australian companies, but almost always in tandem with one of the big four local banks.
In contrast, there were no local banks in sight in the One Crown Place deal – which boosted AustralianSuper's international loan exposure to more than $2 billion. In that transaction, AustralianSuper found itself rubbing shoulders with major global banks.
It was a...

Retail funds dominate in 50 worst-performing super investments
The Australian 12:00am January 19, 2019
Anthony Klan
EXCLUSIVE Every one of the 50 worst-performing balanced superannuation investments over seven years has been operated by retail funds such as ANZ, Westpac and IOOF, with just one product offered by the for-profit sector making it onto the list of the top 135 performers.
In revelations that categorically bring to an end the fierce three-decade dispute between retail and industry funds over which is superior, secretive and highly detailed industry data obtained by The Weekend Australian shows that regardless of the investment timeframe or level of risk involved, retail funds are unquestionably consistently at the bottom and industry funds are consistently at the top.
Despite every worker being forced to divert a portion of every pay packet into compulsory super since it was introduced in 1992 — and the key choice most people face...

7.30 Report’s “House of Cards” (Part 2) does the credit crackdown
Macro Business11:15 am on December 12, 2018
Leith van Onselen
ABC 7.30 Report last night aired the second of a three part special on Australia’s budding housing bust, which is well worth watching.
The episode focussed on how the credit crackdown is putting heat on buyers and developers.
The episode first features several quotes about systemic mortgage fraud and loose lending:
MS ROWENA ORR, QC, SENIOR COUNSEL ASSISTING: Multiple bank employees across multiple branches in the Greater Western Sydney area were accepting false documents in support of loan applications.
ANTHONY WALDRON, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED: People did step outside their responsible lending guidelines.
ROWENA ORR: There were unsuitable loans. There was false documentation.
KAREN COX, FINANCIAL RIGHTS LEGAL CENTRE: Just really inappropriate lending.
We don’t resile from anything that the royal commission has identified…
It then featured a short discussion...

Shadow banks grab market share with big borrowing savings for property buyers
Australian Financial Review 12 Dec 2018 3:19 PM
Duncan Hughes
Shadow banks are grabbing property market share from the majors with rates nearly 80 basis points cheaper and faster loan approval, analysis of rates and conditions shows.
The banks, which are not authorised as deposit-taking institutions, are growing at 2½ times than their rivals but still account for only 9.5 per cent of the mortgage market, according to analysis.
The regulation-light sector has avoided most of the consumer fall-out from the banking royal commission and restrictions imposed on the majors by prudential regulators, such as caps on lending and pressure to intensify scrutiny of borrowers' income and spending.
They have also shown a greater risk appetite by continuing to target low-documentation borrowers, who are typically self-employed or small business owners that do not have access to pay slip...

NAB chief tells inquiry banks started ‘drifting’ from customers 20 years ago
Andrew Thorburn says he is ashamed of how National Australia Bank has behaved in recent years
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/oct/19/nab-chief-tells-inquiry-banks-started-drifting-from-customers-20-years-ago
The National Australia Bank chief executive, Andrew Thorburn, has conceded that problems began seeping into the country’s banking industry two decades ago.
He says that when he entered banking 30 years ago, he was taught that banks existed to serve customers, but the industry started to “drift” in the late 1990s and he was ashamed of how NAB had behaved in recent years.
It means two-thirds of his banking career has been spent in an industry drifting away from customers.
“When I started in banking, it was serving customers, [that] was what was drilled into us [about] why we existed,” Thorburn said on Friday.
It is greed that has led Australian banks to steal from dead people
Richard Denniss
Read...

CBA mulled warning dead customers about fees in product disclosure statement
Australian Financial Review Aug 15 2018 4:14 PM
James Frost
The Commonwealth Bank's superannuation trustee, Avanteos Investments Limited, considered covering its tracks over the charging of dead people for financial advice by updating its product disclosure statement (PDS), the Hayne royal commission heard.
Counsel assisting Michael Hodge, QC, was questioning Colonial First State's executive general manager Linda Elkins about a range of conflicts within the bank's superannuation trustee business, including the charging of dead customers for financial advice.
Ms Elkins explained that following revelations that the bank's financial advisers had been charging dead customers for financial advice back in April, a review of the bank's superannuation arm took place which revealed it was charging dead superannuation customers as far back as 2015.
Ms Elkins said that in a review conducted this year, it was found that a way to...

Suncorp used 'tax surplus' for admin rather than return money to members
Sydney Morning Herald 14 August 2018 5:53am
Clancy Yeates
Suncorp's superannuation trustee used tax refunds within funds to purchase administrative services from other parts of the financial conglomerate, instead of returning the money to members as many funds do, the royal commission heard.
As part of its scrutiny of superannuation trustees, the Hayne royal commission on Monday afternoon turned its attention to how Suncorp used what it called a "tax surplus."
This referred to member funds that were collected for taxation purposes, but the fund ended up with a surplus because of deductions.
Senior counsel assisting the commission, Michael Hodge QC, questioned Maurizio Pinto, the head of the office of the trustee within Suncorp Portfolio Services Limited (SPSL), about the arrangement, and the monitoring of the services provided.
Mr Hodge said "many" other super funds dealt with a...

Banking royal commission: super rip-offs, gouging revealed
The Australian 12:00am August 7, 2018
Ben Butler, Elizabeth Redman, Michael Roddan
Australians are being ripped off by super fund trustees “surrounded by temptation” to do the wrong thing with the $2.6 trillion retirement savings pile, while regulators are failing to search out and punish bad behaviour, the banks royal commission has heard.
In one example of fee gouging outlined at the royal commission yesterday, NAB charged a customer of its MLC division an array of fees that gobbled up $892.20 of $1101.95 earned from a year-long investment in the simplest option available, cash.
As the commission investigates the inner workings of the compulsory superannuation system over the next two weeks of hearings, it will explore how retirement savers are swindled through fees for services they never receive, cosy deals between retail super funds and the banks that control them, account-draining insurance premiums,...

Watchdog failed to act on warning over super fees
The Australian 12:00am July 23, 2018
Anthony Klan
EXCLUSIVE The regulator responsible for the nation’s $2.6 trillion superannuation nest egg was warned by its analysts eight years ago that the major banks and finance companies were charging members more than 2½ times the market rates for services, delivering them billions of dollars a year in extra profits.
A 2010 research paper published by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority — which can now be accessed only via a federal government archive — shows excessive fees charged by the managers of the retail, or for-profit, funds have been systemically eating into the retirement savings of millions of workers.
Despite the peer-reviewed academic paper being written by APRA’s own analysts, including then APRA research head Bruce Arnold, the regulator has not only failed to take any significant steps to address the issue, it has...

How ASIC closed in on AMP’s ‘orphan’ customers
The Australian 12:00am July 16, 2018
Pamela Williams
The key document that sparked AMP to commission Clayton Utz last year to investigate its “fees for no service” scandal was already in the sights of the corporate regulator before the consultancy’s ­report was ever completed and handed to the AMP board.
This explosive AMP internal document, which became known at the corporate regulator as the “orphan contracts document”, five years ago canvassed the ­severe risks for AMP if it did not cease charging fees on so-called “orphan policies” where clients had no financial adviser.
The Australian Securities & Investments Commission was sharply tightening its focus on AMP last year with demands for historic paperwork after several years of investigating AMP and big banks over fees for no service.
The formal demand from ASIC for all records relating to the orphan contracts document was...

APRA rejects claim it needs to do 'a better job', blames ASIC
Australian Financial Review Mar 28 2018 12:56 PM
James Frost
Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority chairman Wayne Byres has denied his organisation was unable to keep the banks in line and said there is little evidence of a lending free-for-all.
After more than an hour of questioning of about revelations of lax lending standards from the Hayne royal commission, he told the House Economics Committee that while there was a small cohort of borrowers who would have difficulty servicing loans when rates move higher there was no sign of a broader problem.
"We are still dealing with an environment in which arrears are not particularly high, they are higher than they have been for a while, but if lending was a free-for-all in the way that some are suggesting I think arrears rates and other things, indicators of financial...

BFCSA Members sent in 400 letters and evidence of fraud to CORRUPT ASIC re 2012 Mortgage Fraud. ASIC told Parliament in evidence: NO SYSTEMIC issues in banking and mortgages..................................................
BFCSA Members AGREE that ASIC cannot be trusted to handle consumer complaints. Collectively we have amassed mountains of evidence of the corruption if ASIC, sustained over 8 - 10 years. ASIC protected the Bankers and demonised Consumers and Borrowers. I personally had over 30 meetings with ASIC executives for over 19 years. The Commissioners have been fully briefed. ASIC should have been asking BFCSA/RECA discover the Australian Bankers Control Fraud and Mortgage Fraud.
BREAKING NEWS.....TODAY!
ASIC have told the Senate committee on Wednesday that it's finally decided to 'look into' mortgage fraud and see for themsleves "how wide spread it really is!!!" This is despite ASIC's blatant lies to the Senate, time and again: "we can see no evidence of systemic issues!" CORRUPT ASIC have sat on a mass...

FBAA defends commission model to Senate inquiry
1 May 2017
Annie Kane
https://www.theadviser.com.au/breaking-news/36012-flat-fee-model-could-lead-to-poor-consumer-outcomes-fbaa
The industry association has defended the current broker commission model to the Senate economics references committee and warned that switching to a flat fee model could lead to “extremely poor consumer outcomes”.
At a public hearing in Sydney last week, the executive director of the Finance Brokers Association of Australia (FBAA), Peter White, was questioned on the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) report into remuneration and whether there were any poor consumer outcomes happening in the broker sector.
Touching on the ASIC recommendation that lenders “change their standard commission arrangements so that brokers are not incentivised purely on the size of the loan”, the senate questioned whether fees for service, rather than commissions, would be a suitable alternative. However, Mr White told the senators that this would not be in the best interest of the...

Record numbers under mortgage stress
1 May 2017
Duncan Hughes
http://www.afr.com/personal-finance/record-numbers-under-mortgage-stress-20170501-gvw2vt
Record numbers of Australian households face mortgage stress as large loans and rising interest rates start to bite, according to detailed analysis of lending, repayments and household incomes. Affluent suburban postcodes feature among an estimated 1000 households a week expected to face mortgage default over the next 12 months, the analysis reveals.
"Debt stress momentum is unprecedented," according to Martin North, principal of research firm Digital Finance Analytics, who has been doing the survey for more than 15 years. "This is not just about mortgage battlers. It is also hitting the households with bigger incomes and more leverage. It is worrisome," Mr North said.
Numbers of borrowers in severe distress has increased by about one-third to about 32,000 in the past 12 months, he said. Concern that 767,000 households – or one-in-four across the nation – are facing financial distress...

ASIC admits product manufacturers try to shift blame
1 May 2017
Mike Taylor
http://www.moneymanagement.com.au/news/financial-planning/asic-admits-product-manufacturers-try-shift-blame
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has acknowledged that product manufacturers have too often blamed distributors such as financial planners when product failures have occurred.
ASIC deputy chairman, Peter Kell has told the Senate Economics Committee inquiry into consumer protection in the banking, insurance and financial sector that such instances have occurred over many years.
Explaining why ASIC was pursuing a product intervention power, Kell said there had been an unwillingness on the part of product manufacturers to take responsibility.
Related News:
· Investment leaders need to transform their business
· Average 3.8 days for approval to go off APL
“… one of the problems we have typically encountered over many years in this sector is that if something goes wrong you often have the product...

300,000 Victorian households struggling to meet repayments
Michael Mata
28 April 2017
http://www.yourmortgage.com.au/article/300000-victorian-households-struggling-to-meet-repayments-235555.aspx
Hundreds of thousands of Victorian households are under mortgage stress, and many more would be pushed to the brink of defaulting on their loans if banks continue to hike their interest rates, warns consulting firm Digital Finance Analytics (DFA). Some 300,000 Victorian homeowners are struggling to meet their mortgage repayments – a figure that would nearly double if interest rates were to rise by 2%.
As the Turnbull government scrambles to tackle the housing affordability crisis in the upcoming May budget, economists warn that rising interest rates would hurt those who’re barely holding onto the property ladder. Modelling produced by the DFA shows that property-owning, working-class families in Narre Warren, Craigieburn, Endeavour Hills, and Berwick are facing the most acute mortgage stress.
Even a mere 0.5% interest-rate rise would put an additional 50,000 owner-occupiers and investors...

The financial curse - watch the video!
We can't 'hold back the tide' in housing market: APRA's Wayne Byres
Clancy Yeates
28 April 2017-04-28
http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/we-cant-hold-back-the-tide-in-housing-market-apras-wayne-byres-20170428-gvuqk4.html
Australia's powerful banking regulator has stressed it cannot "hold back the tide" of the property cycle and exert control over house prices, underlining the limitations of recent curbs on bank home lending. Wayne Byres, chair of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, highlighted this reality as he also flagged "further tightening" from banks in the $1.5 trillion mortgage market.
In response to a rapid build-up of household debt and soaring Sydney and Melbourne house prices, Mr Byres last month unveiled new caps on interest-only lending by banks, causing lenders to raise interest rates for some borrowers. ANZ was the latest bank to respond on Friday, raising fixed interest rates for customers taking out interest-only home loans by up to 0.4...

Inside the House of Reps banking inquiry
By Christian Edwards
1 Day ago
Banking
https://www.rfigroup.com/australian-banking-and-finance/news/inside-house-reps-banking-inquiry
The political divide within the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics inquiry into the banking sector has been thrown into stark relief with the public release of its second report, revealing the frustration of non-government members forced to march to the majority’s beat.
In November 2016 the government-heavy, ten-member committee - including three Opposition and one Greens member - tabled its first ten recommendations to improve the banking system for Australian consumers.
According to committee chair, Liberal MP David Coleman, the second report affirms these and calls on Government implementation, as well as backing the abolition of non-monetary default clauses for loans to small business – a matter examined by the Australian Small business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman, Kate Carnell.
“Each of these Recommendations should...

ATSB ‘look guilty of cover-up’, says MH370 victim’s widow
The Australian 12:00am April 20, 2017
Ean Higgins
Australian and Chinese families of those who died on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 yesterday expressed outrage at Australian authorities’ refusal to release crucial documents, with an Australian widow saying it made them “look more guilty” of a cover-up.
Danica Weeks, whose husband Paul perished when the flight went missing three years ago, called on Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner Greg Hood to reverse his decision to reject a freedom of ­information request from The Australian. “Who are they trying to save face for; is it the Malaysians or the ATSB?” Ms Weeks, who lives on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast, said yesterday.
Mr Hood upheld another ATSB officer’s decision to not ­release opinions of an international team of experts about satellite data which the bureau claims support its theory that MH370 went down in...

APRA should have been more diligent on monitoring data! F for fail! Problem for APRA, they have simply been passing on Bank stats to Treasury and banks lie all the time as to true stats. So we end up with FAKE STATS and DATA.
New Bank data on investor loans 'may' prompt APRA action
26 March 2017
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-03-26/trump-administration-dominates-markets-apra-tightens-investment/8386974
Locally is also a bit light-on in terms of fresh data, although February's Reserve Bank's private sector credit survey (Friday) will be keenly watched given investor lending for property appears to have slipped from under the bank regulator's thumb and is growing rapidly again.
APRA has bluntly told the big banks they are running near the 10 per cent annual growth speed limit for investor loans.
The banks responded by jacking up mortgage rates — particularly for investors — and tightening lending rules.
Another spurt could see the lending speed...

If this sort of crap goes on we’d be better off running the country ourselves...now down to public servants working at Maccas and the PM’s trusted asxeman lobbying for Milo McFlurrys’ to be on the menu! So much for national broadband...and who was responsible for that mess?
Senator James McGrath writes letter to McDonald’s Australia boss to get the Milo McFlurry here
Claire Bickers, News Corp Australia Network
March 3, 2017 12:48pm
http://www.perthnow.com.au/business/work/senator-james-mcgrath-writes-letter-to-mcdonalds-australia-boss-to-get-the-milo-mcflurry-here/news-story/f63f18705078dfd27f510ceb703897f6
A TURNBULL Government minister with a well documented love of Milo is now petitioning McDonald’s to introduce the “Milo McFlurry”.
Queensland Senator James McGrath, who is also the Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister, has written to the fast food giant to lobby for “this very Australian dessert” to be added to its menu.
The senator took up the fight after McDonald’s Malaysia announced it would reintroduce the Milo McFlurry and McDonald’s Australia confirmed it had no...

Recent posts from this category

CBA underpays 8000 staff after HR tech system failure
Australian Financial Review Apr 17, 2019 12.01am
James Eyers
Commonwealth Bank has underpaid about 8000 staff after its human resources technology systems failed to accurately calculate and process entitlements, forcing the bank to repay millions of dollars to current and former employees.
The Finance Sector Union said it was notified by CBA about the issue, which the union is describing as a "blunder" relating to CBA's "antiquated computer systems". CBA says it replaced the offending HR system last year and has apologised to affected staff.
“This is a major stuff-up by the CBA and hard-working bank staff deserve an apology and a commitment from the CBA’s chair, Catherine Livingstone, and CEO Matt Comyn that this kind of pay bungle won’t happen again,” said FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano.
Once compensation is repaid, including interest and additional superannuation payments, Ms Angrisano said...

You wouldn’t want to have your money tied up in Australian bank's
shonky hydrid bonds!
No wonder it’s back to re-financing and securitisation!
What Would it Cost a Country to Leave the Euro? That’s What Everyone Suddenly Wants to Know
by Wolf Richter • Feb 7, 2017
http://wolfstreet.com/2017/02/07/what-would-it-cost-a-country-to-leave-the-euro-thats-what-everyone-suddenly-wants-to-know/
It’s the closest the Eurozone has come to falling apart.
Marine Le Pen, the leader of the National Front, will get enough votes in April during the first round of the French presidential election but will be defeated in the second-round runoff in May, according to the polls. So at least hopes the French political class, and by extension the European establishment.
They’re hoping Le Pen would be defeated because she is campaigning on taking France out of the euro (after holding a referendum) and re-denominating the entire €2.4 trillion pile of French government debt into new franc....

Sound familiar In Australia? Doesn’t take much to know why our banks now all have internal customer advocates
to control what suits them to investigate internally and what suits them to be investigated by the FOS!
Hope for bank fraud victims: 'We were robbed of £47,000 – but the ombudsman took our side'
3 September 2016
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/hope-for-bank-fraud-victims-we-were-robbed-of-47000--but-the-omb/
In what could be a breakthrough ruling for victims of banking fraud, the financial ombudsman is to order a high street bank to repay an elderly couple who lost tens of thousands of pounds in a conveyancing scam.
The ombudsman, which settles disputes between customers and financial services firms, will tell Lloyds Bank to repay £47,508 plus interest to Donald Kelly, a retired professor, and his wife, Patricia.
Its decision was based on what Lloyds knew about the fraudsters.
Banks are supposed to check the credentials of all customers when they open an...

Bad business decisions are not a criminal offence but selling stolen goods off the back
of a truck is...i.e. the real crime is securitisation...
This is a complete list of Wall Street CEOs prosecuted for their role in the financial crisis
By Neil Irwin
Wonkblog
September 12, 2013
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/09/12/this-is-a-complete-list-of-wall-street-ceos-prosecuted-for-their-role-in-the-financial-crisis/
Five years after Lehman fell, taking the global economy along with it, a roll call of Wall Street CEOs serving time for their role in the crisis looks something like this:
Thanks, Dangerz0ne.
So, yeah. Zero Wall Street CEOs are in jail. But we did promise you a list:
1. No one.
2. LOL.
3. Wall Street's lawyers are amazing.
4. Etc. Etc.
It's not that federal government tried to prosecute a bunch of them but lost the cases. There were no serious efforts at criminal prosecutions at all.
Which isn't to say nobody is in jail....

Does the S&P Settlement change EVERYTHING?
16 February 2015
https://peopleriskmanagement.com/2015/02/16/does-the-sp-settlement-change-everything/
The S& P saga rumbles on. Having been hammered by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in January [1], S&P has received a knock-out blow, and a $1.375 billion fine, from the US Department of Justice and 20 State governments [2]. And in what might the first of many private actions, S&P also reached a separate $125 million settlement with the huge pension fund California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CALPERS) [3].
What has received little publicity, however, are the implications of the S&P settlement with regard to Corporate Governance, in general, and Codes of Conduct in particular. In justifying the huge fine, the Justice Department said that “as part of the resolution, S&P admitted facts demonstrating that it misrepresented itself to investors and the public, allowing the pursuit of profits to bias its ratings”. In the many fines against banks,...

Wells Fargo CEO resigns, bank president succeeds
Published time: 12 Oct, 2016 21:59 Edited time: 12 Oct, 2016 22:06
https://www.rt.com/usa/362564-wells-fargo-ceo-john-stumpf-resigns/
Chairman and CEO of Wells Fargo & Co. John Stumpf has retired under pressure amid a scandal involving fraudulent sales tactics. Some two million accounts were created without customers’ permission. President and COO Timothy J. Sloan will replace him.
Stumpf stepped down from both of his leadership posts Wednesday, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person close to the situation.
Wells Fargo, which until recently had been the most valuable big bank in the US for years, settled a lawsuit with regulators and a city official last month for $185 million.
To meet sales quotas, the bank created accounts for unwitting customers, some of whom paid fines and fees on them. It is estimated that millions of customers were impacted. More than 5,000 Wells...

Revealed: Treasury Given Confidential Information About RBS Investigation Ahead Of Share Firesale
“This information is not in the public domain and we would be grateful if you could ensure it is kept confidential.”
13 October 2016
https://www.buzzfeed.com/tomwarren/keep-it-confidential?utm_term=.tljMzPQvB#.siLYgkA7P
Top Treasury officials obtained confidential information about a regulatory investigation into the taxpayer-owned Royal Bank of Scotland in order to help fix the timing of a massive sale of government shares, BuzzFeed News can reveal.
Internal emails show that John Kingman, second in command at the Treasury, sought and received information that was not publicly available about the timing of the Financial Conduct Authority’s ongoing investigation into RBS’s alleged abuse of small businesses from the head of the regulator, Martin Wheatley.
The tip-off “in the light of potential sales of RBS shares” was used to help time the shotgun sale of a £2.1 billion stake in the bank at...

The Dash For Cash: Leaked Files Reveal RBS Systematically Crushed British Businesses For Profit
The RBS Files expose the bank’s secret scheme to boost revenues during the financial crisis
by draining businesses of cash and stripping their assets, blowing apart its previous
statements to the public and parliament.
10 October 2016
https://www.buzzfeed.com/heidiblake/dash-for-cash?utm_term=.ni8qxYDzN#.re4L5OexB
The Royal Bank of Scotland killed or crippled thousands of businesses during the recession as a result of a deliberate plan to add billions of pounds to its balance sheet, according to a leaked cache of thousands of secret documents. The RBS Files – revealed today by BuzzFeed News and BBC Newsnight – lay bare the secret policies under which firms were pushed into the bank’s feared troubled-business unit, Global Restructuring Group (GRG), which chased profits by hitting them with massive fees and fines and by snapping up their assets at rock-bottom prices. The internal...

Here too?
The £4bn battle on Costa del Claims: New hope for thousands of British buyers who lost fortunes in Spanish property crash
By Laura Shanon for the Mail on Sunday
Published: 04:33 +10:00, 12 June 2016 | Updated: 20:25 +10:00, 12 June 2016
http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-3636595/4bn-battle-Costa-del-Claims-s-British-investors-seek-court-ruling-gives-new-hope-thousands-lost-fortunes-Spanish-property-crash.htmlRuling by the Supreme Court in
Madrid points to a reversal of fortune
Spanish banks that held their deposits are to be held to account
Stephanie Davis lost more than £60,000 when Spanish purchase collapsed
British investors who lost big deposits in the Spanish property crash have been given fresh hope of getting back their money. Around 100,000 people in the UK are thought to have paid big sums towards ‘off-plan’ properties in Spain – ones which were yet to be built.
Demand was high a decade ago, when around 800,000 holiday homes a year were being built in Spain. But after the...

No wonder our banks are going mad issuing more hybrid bonds!
Exclusive: Wall St. banks ask Fed for five more years to comply with Volcker rule
9 August 2016
http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-fed-volcker-exclusive-idUSKCN10M2E4
http://www.reuters.com/video/2016/08/15/breakingviews-foot-dragging-on-wall-stre?videoId=369573918&feedType=VideoRSS&feedName=Breakingviews&videoChannel=117766
Big Wall Street banks are asking the U.S. Federal Reserve to grant them an additional five-year grace period to comply with a financial reform regulation known as the Volcker rule, people familiar with the matter said. If the Fed agrees, the extension would give banks more time to exit fund investments that are difficult to sell, but no longer allowed by the law. The added grace period, which follows three one-year extensions, would start next year and run through 2022.
The law on Volcker rule implementation says banks can ask for an extra five-year extension for "illiquid" funds, where banks had contractual commitments to invest. In deciding whether to grant Wall Street more leeway, the Fed has asked...

From Facebook/BFCSA
John MacFarlane will be one of many former Banking Chiefs and insiders to banks who are disgusted at today's corrupt banking system. Insider Bank staffer has told us...:"Bank chief and execs incredibly nervous at work prior to election, terrified that Labor would win. Colleagues and I voted Labor for first time. We were sold the same loans. Shocking what is going on. Yes needs Royal Commission. We are prevented from speaking out."
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/aug/10/labor-credit-card-rates-banking-commbank-profit-statement
Former Reserve Bank board member John Edwards joined the chorus of critical voices last week in calling for some type of inquiry into the banks, saying their relative power had increased significantly in recent years and it had to be reckoned with.
“Their authority in [funds management] is becoming vastly bigger than it was, even a decade ago,” Edwards said. “I think that’s where we need to get a better idea of what the...

HSBC Bank Executives Face Charges in $3.5 Billion Currency Case
By ALEXANDRA STEVENSON
JULY 20, 2016
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/21/business/dealbook/hsbc-foreign-exchange-investigation-currency.html?smid=tw-dealbook&smtyp=cur&_r=1
Mark Johnson, center, following his arraignment, with his attorney, Frank Wohl, on Wednesday. Louis Lanzano for New York Times
The global banking giant HSBC has repeatedly found itself in the cross hairs of American regulators and prosecutors in recent years. To settle allegations of money-laundering and mortgage abuses, it has paid billions of dollars — but has not been criminally charged.
That has spurred an outcry that the bank is “too big to jail.” But now two senior executives of HSBC
of HSBC face criminal charges, accused of a currency manipulation scheme that federal prosecutors say generated $8 million in profits and fees.
The global head of HSBC’s foreign exchange cash trading desk, Mark Johnson, a Briton, was arrested by federal agents Tuesday night at Kennedy International Airport as he...

There will be no soft landing in China.
By Harry Dent, Senior Editor, Economy & Markets:
by Harry Dent • August 2, 2016
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/08/02/chinas-property-bubble-echoes-subprime-crisis/
The menacing fury of economic triggers that began piling up after the Great Recession are only getting larger and we can’t do much but watch it unfold and stay alert.
I wrote about this in a letter late last year, but now here we are more than halfway through the year and it’s only getting worse. So much worse that the Chinese property bubble is now the catalyst that will reset markets – and will likely be one large event that cascades across the globe.
I’m convinced that what finally puts an end to central banker madness and the incessant stream of QE will be the Chinese real estate bubble.
Massive doesn’t even begin to describe the situation with China’s property market, but that’s somewhat expected...

As a simple retired person and obviously not business savvy, even I cannot get over the gall and unmitigated temerity of the Big 4 banks not to pass on the RBA rate cut in full. This is in direct defiance of the P.M. a former banker himself warning them pre election to get their houses in order.
Poor Malcolm is torn between his loyalty to his brothers in arms to that of his own political future. The banks have had a fore taste of the Australian public howling for openness and transparency in our financial system, has their combined greed over shadowed common sense? Malcolm and his cohorts only just got in by the skin of their teeth and with Labor promising a Royal Commission it would only take one or two pollies to die or retire with by elections to follow to upset the apple cart.
The fact the PM...

From a blog....
Ireland to Prosecute Former Anglo Irish Bank CEO for 2008 Economic Catastrophe
July 28th, 2016 | by Vandita
http://anonhq.com/ireland-prosecute-former-anglo-irish-bank-ceo-2008-economic-catastrophe/
Last year, Iceland set precedent by sentencing 26 top bankers to a combined 74 years in prison, for causing the 2008 global financial crisis. The unprecedented conviction of bad bankers sent a strong message across the world (none of America’s top bankers went to jail for the crimes that caused the 2008 financial crisis) that no individual is too big to investigate, and that it was possible to prosecute fraudulent bankers.
Taking cue from Iceland, Ireland is going to prosecute the 2005-2008 CEO of Anglo Irish Bank, David Drumm, on 33 criminal charges. These include two charges of conspiracy to defraud and false accounting relating to €7.2 billion in deposits placed in Anglo Irish Bank accounts by the then Irish Life and Permanent, between March and September...

You have to seriously think bank computer systems are rigged gaming machines!
Italy’s Monte Paschi Flunks Stress Test, Plans to Raise Capital
John Glover JohnEGlover Sonia Sirletti ssirletti Alessandro Speciale aspeciale
July 30, 2016 — 6:02 AM AEST Updated on July 31, 2016 — 3:31 AM AEST
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-29/monte-paschi-capital-wiped-out-in-european-bank-stress-test#media-1
The world’s oldest bank is also Europe’s riskiest.Italy’s Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA was the only one of 51 lenders tested by European regulators to have its capital wiped out in the exam’s toughest scenario. The bank, which has been bailed out twice by the government since 2009, said it plans to sell as much as 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) of stock if it can offload a bad-loan portfolio.
The European tests released Friday showed that most lenders would keep an adequate level of capital in a crisis. Among the region’s biggest banks, London-based Barclays Plc fared worse than...

Goldman Bond Deals With 1MDB Under Singapore Central Bank Review
31 July 2016
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-07-30/goldman-bond-deals-with-1mdb-under-singapore-central-bank-review
Singapore’s central bank said a “supervisory examination” of a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. unit’s involvement in bond deals by 1Malaysia Development Bhd. is ongoing.
"Monetary Authority of Singapore will take decisive regulatory actions against any financial institution or individual in Singapore that has breached regulations or failed to meet the expected anti-money laundering standards,” it said in the statement on Saturday. Edward Naylor, a Hong Kong-based spokesman for Goldman Sachs, declined to comment.
The New York-based bank received subpoenas from the U.S. Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission for documents related to the Malaysian investment fund known as 1MDB, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a person familiar with the matter who wasn’t identified. Reuters earlier reported Singapore’s probe into Goldman Sachs’ involvement in 1MDB bonds.
The Singapore central bank on July 21...

No need to be a rocket scientist to know why phase 2 of the AML act was never introduced.....looks as if not just in Australia either!
What’ll Suffocate these Housing Bubbles: US Government Mucks up Money-Laundering in Real Estate
by Wolf Richter • July 27, 2016
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/07/27/us-government-money-laundering-real-estate-housing-bubbles-ny-miami-san-francisco-silicon-valley-los-angeles/
Manhattan and Miami already get mauled. Now expanding to San Francisco, Silicon Valley, Southern California, even Texas!
Cash sales of homes – mostly the domain of foreign and affluent buyers – fell to 32% of total home sales in April, down 2.8 percentage points from a year ago, according to a new report from CoreLogic. For the first four months, cash sales dropped to 34%, the lowest since 2008.
In Florida, the number one destination for foreign homebuyers, cash sales accounted for 46% of sales, and in New York, for 44%, both decreasing as well. The “strong dollar” and “global uncertainty” were blamed....

Did Jamie Dimons’ secret meetings with competitors violate anti-trust laws?
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens: July 22, 2016
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2016/07/did-jamie-dimons-secret-meetings-with-competitors-violate-antitrust-laws/
A mere three months after JPMorgan Chase and three of its competitors (Citicorp, Barclays and the Royal Bank of Scotland) pleaded guilty to a felony charge of conspiring to rig foreign currency trading and paid criminal fines totaling over $2.5 billion, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase, Jamie Dimon, began meeting in secret with his competitors in the asset management field.
On February 1 of this year, the Financial Times reported that “secret summits” had been held beginning in August 2015 between “asset management bosses” including Jamie Dimon, Abby Johnson of Fidelity, Larry Fink of BlackRock, and Tim Armour of Capital Group. The article went on to report that Dimon and Warren Buffett had convened the sessions at JPMorgan’s headquarters in New York to discuss “a statement of best practice...

Japan’s “Helicopter Money” Play: Road to Hyperinflation or Cure for Debt Deflation?
Posted on July 25, 2016 by Ellen Brown
https://ellenbrown.com/2016/07/25/japans-helicopter-money-play-road-to-hyperinflation-or-cure-for-debt-deflation/
Fifteen years after embarking on its largely ineffective quantitative easing program, Japan appears poised to try the form recommended by Ben Bernanke in his notorious “helicopter money” speech in 2002. The Japanese test case could finally resolve a longstanding dispute between monetarists and money reformers over the economic effects of government-issued money.
When then-Fed Governor Ben Bernanke gave his famous helicopter money speech to the Japanese in 2002, he was talking about something quite different from the quantitative easing they actually got and other central banks later mimicked. Quoting Milton Friedman, he said the government could reverse a deflation simply by printing money and dropping it from helicopters. A gift of free money with no strings attached, it would find its way into the real economy and trigger...

Najib Cracked Down on Free Speech to Limit 1MDB Fallout, Journalist Says
June 06, 2016, 05:55:00 AM EDT By Dow Jones Business News
http://www.nasdaq.com/article/najib-cracked-down-on-free-speech-to-limit-1mdb-fallout-journalist-says-20160606-00085
A senior Malaysian journalist who quit his job at a leading newspaper said Prime Minister Najib Razak's government has cracked down on freedom of speech as it tries to limit the fallout from a graft scandal surrounding a state investment fund.
Mustapha Kamil, the former group editor of the English-language New Straits Times, which is controlled by Mr. Najib's ruling party, took a rare public stance by saying that an increasingly "authoritarian" stand by the government toward media was the reason he quit the newspaper in April. He had worked there for more than a quarter-century.
Mr. Mustapha initially remained quiet after stepping down, but last week posted the reasons for his action on his Facebook page—an unusual act in the closed world of...

London Housing Bubble Melts Down
by Wolf Richter • July 18, 2016
But don’t just blame Brexit.
http://wolfstreet.com/2016/07/18/london-housing-bubble-set-for-collapse-dont-just-blame-brexit/
In Central London – the 30 most central postal codes and one of the most ludicrously expensive housing markets in the world – eager home sellers are slashing their asking prices to unload their properties. But even that isn’t working.
In the 12 days after the Brexit vote, cuts to asking prices have soared by 163% compared to the 12 days before the vote, according to the Financial Times. Yet sales have plunged 18% from before the Brexit vote. Sales had already taken a big beating before then and are now down a mind-boggling 43% from where they’d been a year ago!
So Brexit did it?
Um, well, sort of. But it’s more than Brexit. Home prices on a £-per-square-foot basis had peaked in Q2 2014, according to real-estate data provider LonRes. Since...

So it’s back to how it used to be and should always have been in NZ...makes you
wonder who will swoop and buy up all the damaged collateral!
Bank boss warns of property market mess
4:30 PM Wednesday Jul 20, 2016
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11678082
The chief executive of New Zealand's largest bank has warned that house prices are over-cooked and the market may face a "messy end". In an unusually outspoken article ANZ chief executive David Hisco joins several leading establishment figures in calling for stronger action on housing.
Yesterday's Reserve Bank lending restrictions did not go far enough, he says.
The bank has lifted deposit requirements for investors to 40 per cent. Hisco says he would like to see them lifted to 60 per cent even though that would mean less business for ANZ.
He also warns that regardless of Reserve Bank lending restriction local banks may not be able...

THE Battle for the ROYAL COMMISSION into Banks and the Finance sectors is far from over for BFCSA Members.
In April this year I sent a letter to Opposition Leader Bill Shorten begging for a Royal Commission into the banking System (wide TOR) based upon an estimated 1.5 million families severely affected by sub prime lending to the point the "asset-lends" to pensioners meant elderly people would be thrown out of their own homes.
Over $300 billion of toxic loans are out there sloshing around in the Low Doc Market and economists from LF
Economics backed up these concerns in their submission # 63 to the Senate Inquiry into white collar crime. BFCSA also furnished submissions to the Dastyari Inquiry 2015. And, BFCSA Sub # 23 (Mch 2016) into White Collar Crime
being conducted by Senator Peter Whish-Wilson.
Earlier I had sent similar letters of warnings to PM Mr Abbott and later the new...

Home Loan Mortgage Arrears Rising and Rents falling
The proportion of Australian home owners falling behind on their mortgage repayments has increased, according to ratings agency Standard & Poor's.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-07-19/home-loan-mortgage-arrears-rising/7638528
The global credit ratings giant said May was the seventh consecutive month where mortgage arrears had increased.
So-called prime mortgages have an arrears rate of 1.21 per cent, up from 1.14 per cent in April and 1.07 per cent a year earlier.
These are mortgages to borrowers with full documentation around their income, savings and assets.
The arrears rate for "nonconforming" loans jumped from 4.25 per cent in April to 4.71 per cent in May, but remains well off a peak of 17 per cent in 2009.
"Nonconforming" loans include those with limited documentation, so-called low-doc loans, which are often given to small business owners or contractors who have limited evidence of their earnings.
Both measures are for those borrowers...

Recent posts from this category

Dear Victim of Sterling First Ponzi Structure
Thank you for your correspondence 3 August 2019, originally directed to the Prime Minister concerning your investment in the Sterling First group of companies. Your correspondence has been referred to the Minister for Housing and and Assistant Treasurer and he has asked me to respond to you.
I REGRET that I am unable to provide further assistance to that contained in my letter to you of 2nd August 2019. In relation to your query about the return of Investment Funds, I conform my previous advice to you about contacting liquidators in the first instance. For advice on Tenancy matters, you may also wish to contact the Consumer Protection division of the Western Australian Government Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety.
The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) continues to update Sterling First investors via a dedicated page on its website, www.asic.gov.au. ...

}
Hon Josh Frydenberg MP
Treasurer
House of Representatives
Parliament House
PO Box 6022 Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Mr. Frydenberg
This is not the “Holocaust” but as far as Australia goes, it doesn`t come any worse! The corporate fraud, regulatory negligence` and victim suffering, is off the scale! By the sheer volume of correspondence, you are aware of the Sterling New Life “40-year Lease for Life Scam”, ASIC`s criminal neglect, and the immense suffering of their sick and elderly victims. So, as a concerned citizen, I`m here adding my voice to their call for compensation! I`m asking you, as Treasurer, to way in to this issue and not look for the coward`s way out as ASIC has! They have looked for, and used, every technicality to dodge their responsibility to protect the most vulnerable from corrupt and illegal practices!
The scam run by SNL was an...

2nd September 2019
Leader of the Opposition
and Shadow Ministers: Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP & Hon Bill Shorten MP
Dear Mr Albanese,
I am writing to you in desperate need of your help for all the victims of the Sterling Group collapse with my mum being one of them. She has become a victim of a crime, so called PONZI scheme and has lost $244,000 of her life savings and will potentially become homeless if this issue is not resolved quickly. We are appealing to you in the hope that you can raise this matter in the Lower House ASAP, by way of a Matter of Public Importance and Senate Inquiry.
My mother is a 79 year old self-funded retiree who immigrated 15 years ago to join their children and call it their home for the rest of their life. After the death of my father in...

Dr Jim Chalmers Shadow Treasurer
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives, Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Mr Chalmers
Many retirees have been aught up in a scam called the Sterling Newlife rent for life scheme of which my wife and I are one. I refer you to a letter sent to Mr Albanese by Denise Brailey outlining the scam and the devastating affect it has had on retirees
Dr Chalmers could you use your position in Parliament to refer the following questions to the treasure and assistant treasurer
Why is the Treasure stating the Sterling Affair is a state matter when clearly this is a Federal matter
Why is the Treasurer suggesting victims of Sterling write to the Ombudsman knowing full well that is a devious ASIC TRICK? The same question relating to sending victims to AFCA that are controlled by the banks and hand...

23rd August 2019
Hon Jason Clare MP
Shadow Minister for Housing and Homelessness
PO Box 6022 House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT2600
Dear Mr. Clare
Re: The collapse of the Sterling Life Group by inaction of ASIC.
This is our story of our unfortunate experience with the Sterling New LIfe Group.
In November 2016 after seeing Sterling New LIfe being heavily advertised in the newspaper and on radio by well known WA personalities we went to a meeting and got all the information. One of WAs best known personalities was there this gave us a bit of confidence as we did not think they would want their reputations tarnished by something that was a con. After doing a lot of homework on this and talking to others that had joined we signed up on the 26th July 2017. We took all our money...

Leader of the Federal Opposition
Hon. Mr Anthony Albanese
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives, Parliament House, Canberra, ACT 2600
Dear Mr Albanese
Sterling New Life Scandal – WA, QLD, Victoria
We would like to let you know of how we were involved with this scandal. After having investigated the company fully and seeking legal advice and financial advice, we were told that this was on the low side of risk.
We entered into a “rent for Life” scheme in September, 2018 with the Sterling Group. In May, 2019 we were informed that the company had gone into voluntary administration. In June, 2019 we received a letter saying that the company had gone into liquidation. In 7 short months we had lost $280,00.00 to white collar crime in Australia.
We understand that as far back as 2015 WA Consumer Affairs investigated Sterling and found breaches of the Corporations Law....

22 August 2019
Leader of the Australian Federal Opposition
Hon. Mr Anthony Albanese MP
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives, Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600
STERLING NEW LIFE SCANDAL – WA, QLD, VIC
MATTER OF PUBLIC IMPORTANCE
ROYAL COMMISSION INTO ASIC
Dear Mr Albanese
I am writing to you for help and hope this letter receives a better response than those I have already written to Mr Shipton, Mr Frydenberg and Mr Morrison.
After doing our due diligence my husband and I paid for a 40-year Sterling New Life lease in October 2017 expecting to see out our remaining years in a very secure unit in Mandurah. We thought that this money was placed in a trust but now it appears that it was more of a Ponzi scheme. We also invested $75,000 in units in late 2018 which were supposedly going to be listed...

26 August 2019
Stephen Jones MP Shadow Assistant Treasurer PO Box 6022 House of Representatives Parliament House Canberra ACT 2600
Sterling New Life Collapse Matter of Public Importance Call for Royal Commission into ASIC
Dear Mr Jones On July 3rd, I wrote to the Federal Treasurer with regard to the collapse of Sterling New Life through which we had arranged a life lease on a retirement housing package. We lost most of our life savings and housing security as a result, and it had come to our attention that our due diligence had failed to take into account the neglect of ASIC in its statutory responsibility for consumer protection. Apparently, it had been red-flagging the Sterling group for some time and did not deem this important enough to stop the product that we and many other senior citizens bought into. Further details of our experience are submitted in a...

22 August 2019
Dr Jim Chalmers
Shadow Treasurer
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
STERLING NEW LIFE SCANDAL – WA, QLD, VIC
ROYAL COMMISSION INTO ASIC
Dear Dr Chalmers
I am writing to you, and other members of the Opposition, regarding the Sterling New Life and ASIC fiascos in the hope that you will ask a number of questions of the Treasurer Josh Frydenberg and Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar when Parliament resumes in September.
After doing our due diligence my husband and I paid for a 40-year Sterling New Life lease in October 2017 expecting to see out our remaining years in a very secure unit in Mandurah. We thought that this money was placed in a trust but now it appears that it was more of a Ponzi scheme and our money was used as a personal piggy bank for...

Senator Katy Gallagher
Shadow Minister for Finance
PO Box 6100 The Senate,
Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Senator
I am writing this letter in regard to The Collapse of the STERLING LIFE GROUP and Failure of the
Australian Securities and Investment Commission.
Back in April 2015 my wife and I were invited to look into this wonderful scheme to be able to live rent free yes RENT FREE not an investment.
So after getting other opinions we decided it was for us.
We proceeded to sell Sterling trust our family home for $370k invest the amount $300k with Sterling let
the investment money grow for our children whilst we lived in the house for a period of 20 years
without worrying freeing up some pension for us and my boys would get the money at the end perfect fit
for everyone
But ASIC knew of the likelihood of failure of...

20th August 2019
The Hon Mr Albanese MP
PO Box 6022
House of Representatives
:arliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Dear Mr Albanese
we need your help in the Sterling fiasco
Denise Brailey has written to you a very concise and informed letter, which spells out our predicament in detail.
Put briefly we lent monies to Sterling in 2018 and the interest we received would pay our rent for the rest of our lives
However unbeknown to us ASIC had received complaints about this company as far back as 2015 and continued to turn a blind eye to their activities. Sterling continued to take funds from unsuspecting retirees and use them in whatever way they saw fit, thus snubbing their noses at the law of the land
Mr Albanese ASIC need to be investigated by a senate committee as they were derelict in their duty and caused...

26th August 2019
Dear Dr Chalmers
After investing our money into SNL, we were assured that we would be secure with a 40 year lease for our retirement.
My Husband passed away in April this year after suffering with Cancer.
In May I was faced with the bombshell that our money had gone and Sterling had gone into liquidation.
As you may understand, it has caused a lot of stress and worry as to what I was going to do , especially as now I am living on a single pension and face a very uncertain future.
The people who have stolen our hard earned money ie, Ray and Ryan Jones are criminals and should be locked away for this.
I am among so many other people who have invested into Sterling. Some are very ill and also in danger of losing their homes.
Where do they go?
We...

To: Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Mr James Shipton.
ASIC and the Australian Government are a disgrace and an embarrassment!
The Facts.
ASIC knowingly allowed Sterling First and predecessor companies to continue ripping people off for over a decade!
ASIC failed to do their job correctly with devastating consequences!
Victims of the Sterling First fraud are left with NO MONEY and NO HOME!
The ASIC, Government members and Government departments DO NOT CARE!
The corrupt protect the corrupt!
The Joke.
Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Independent Australian Government Body
“The Australian Securities and Investments Commission is an independent Australian government body that acts as Australia's corporate regulator. ASIC's role is to enforce and regulate company and financial services laws to protect Australian consumers, investors and creditors”.
When did they do this to save the Sterling first victims? They knew and did NOTHING!
The Government
Prime Minister Scott...

Dr Jim Chalmers
Shadow Treasurer
Dear Dr Chalmers
We have been writing to ASIC, the Treasurer and the Prime Minister. No-one is responding.
I write his letter to complain about the lack of proper investigation into the Sterling New Life scheme aimed at elderly pensioners. This...

Dear Mr Carey
We sold our house back in 2016 and invested in a well- advertised scheme where we moved into a rental property with promise of the interest from our investment would pay our rent .It failed and we now have lost all our investment and we are obliged to pay our rent out of our pension which leaves us little to live on.
My complaint to you is that the company we invested in was Sterling New life and we understand that as far back as 2010 WA Consumer Affairs was not happy with the structure and advised ASIC of the probable problems. It appears that ASIC did nothing to
1. Advise the people of a probable white collar ponzi scheme
2. Investigate the scheme at any length or if at all.
3. Bring the directors to task by asking for their business plan.
In our opinion ASIC has...

Prime Minister
The Hon Scott Morrison
Sterling New Life
Western Australia
Dear sir
We wish to give you more information on the Sterling Life investment program here in WA.
1. It has caused a lot of stress and heartache for people here.
2. On the night of the Election we received an email saying all our money was gone and the company was in administration. We learnt about this from our landlord who is also a victim in the collapse of this company.
3. The directors took all our money and Centrelink deemed us as homeowners so no rent assistance was allowed. Some Centrelink offices did it differently and gave rent assistance and now the investors are being asked to pay it back.
4, We now have no asset to fall back on and we were promised a lifelong lease,
5. We are now paying twice to live, once to...

Prime Minister of Australia
Dear Sir
I write his letter to complain about the lack of proper investigation into the Sterling New Life scheme aimed at elderly pensioners. This idea was to invest into the company trust fund which in turn invested our money to pay a long lease in a new home.
We looked at this idea and found it appealing and consequently went ahead and signed up in Sept 2017. It was great and we were happy and content.
In July 2018 we received a phone call from Michael Darch of ASIC asking were we happy with our situation and did we know what we had entered into. Some 2-3 days later we had an email apologizing to us and hoping he had not upset us with his enquiry. May of 2019 the company was in administration and we along with 120 other older couples lost over $270,000...

Sterling New Life
Mr Frydenberg
Dear Sir
This letter is to complain about the Department of ASIC. You allow them a budget of some $550 million dollars per annum. Do you feel you(we) are getting value for money? In their so-called mission statement, the final words read “to protect Australian investors and creditors”.
You may by this time have heard of the slick marketing structure by Sterling New Life Company. with a further 12 other companies to move money around to cover their tracks from the tax Dept. This company was reported to ASIC in 2010 by the WA Consumers Affairs Dept. stating this company was suspect and the CEO and Directors were well known to have previously moved on the public with heavy losses to the investors.
I therefore ask
1.Did the Director of ASIC know of the Ponzi scheme back in 2010?
2. What if anything did the Dept...

6th August 2019
Hon Scott Morrison MP
Prime Minister
Parliament House, Canberra ACT 2600
STERLING NEW LIFE collapse
Dear Prime Minister
I am following up from my previous letter to you concerning the loss of our monies of $110,000 plus and our retirement home due to the Sterling First collapse. We have previously sent mail and I might add had not one response from anyone including Yourself, Mr James Shipton, Mr Josh Frydenberg concerning the compensation we believe we are urgently due.
As you are very aware of ASIC inaction in this fiasco and now after paying taxes for the last 55 years and being a loyal subject we have been left with nothing. We are effectively having to pay for accommodation just to have a roof over our heads. Even though these funds was paid in advance to maintain a roof over our heads. This is...

3 August 2019
The Hon Scott Morrison MP Prime Minister Parliament House CANBERRA ACT 2600
Compensation Sterling First Collapse and call for Royal Commission into the Australian Securities and Investment Commission
Dear Prime Minister
I follow up my letter of July 13th concerning our loss of $254000 and our retirement accommodation due to the Sterling First collapse. It followed similar correspondence to ASIC chairman, Mr James Shipton, and the Federal Treasurer, the Hon. Josh Frydenberg concerning the compensation we believe we are urgently due.
Our only direct response so far has been a letter from Treasury telling us to take our claim to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (AFCA). However, we are advised that this would be a waste of time as a history of similar complaints reveals that, for the most part, such submissions are investigated, mined for data and then dismissed. The need is urgent as this money represents our carefully planned accommodation security,...

PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA.
Hon.Scott Morrison MP
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
Dear Mr Morrison.
THE STERLING GROUP COLLAPSE and ASIC FIASCO.
My challenge I put to you , Prime Minister is to come to this place that is supposed to be my home, after all that is what I paid my life savings for, to have a safe dwelling for retirement. Come here with a knife and stick it in my back, that is virtually what these thieves and ASIC have done.
It will be painful but quick, sounds horrific, but getting accustomed to horrific. At present we are in a slow, painful, stressful decline. Of course be prepared, All of Australia’s media will be here, you will not be able to hide behind smoke and mirrors, as you are now. I doubt you will come, because nobody wants to take responsibility.
From the Sterling thieves, to the...

06/8/2019
PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA
Hon. Scott Morrison MP
Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
Dear Mr Morrison,
THE STERLING GROUP COLLAPSE and ASIC FIASCO: $28.6 Million Compensation.
This is one of many letter sent to you regarding the Sterling group collapse and to my knowledge not one reply has been received.
Do you really give a toss about the people you work for? Yes that’s right you work for us but at the moment I am not sure.
Mr Prime Minister it looks like you are surrounded by some Ministers and Heads of Departments that could not lay straight in bed.
Michael Sukkar told us on radio that an internal review into the Stirling affair was being held. What a blatant lie he only told us what we wanted to hear. Is it a pre requisite that you lie to the tax payers in your Government? I demand...

Dear Mr Prime Minister
We are writing to you regarding the collapse of Sterling New Life in a failed Ponzi scheme. The perpetrators of this scheme have stolen $28.6 million from elderly pensioners in WA, Vic and Qld through no fault of their own .
If ASIC “the peoples watchdog’’ were doing the job they get paid to do this wouldn’t have happened .ASIC were well aware as far back as 2015 that there was something amiss with SNL and its dodgy directors .
Nothing was done about it even though cabinet has a monthly meeting with ASIC to discuss these matters. This is a gross misconduct of the elected government especially as our now PM was treasurer at the time to allow this company to continue along on their merry way ripping of people to the tune of millions of dollars for their own gain . There should...

4TH August 2019
PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA
Hon. Scott Morrison
MP Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
Dear Prime Minister,
This has been going on for so long, it’s beyond a joke! Something needs to be done NOW. The demand and urgency of the need for compensation, has reached critical status. There are so many elderly people left with NOTHING, including ourselves. The stress of it all is taking a huge impact on our health, and unfortunately most are in the same situation.
We have LOST all of our LIFE SAVINGS, relying on our family to be able to survive. At what point was it ok to let it get to this! If you had to rely on your children to survive, how would it make you feel??? It’s not GOOD ENOUGH that it is taking so long, meanwhile there are elderly people losing the battle of...

PRIME MINISTER OF AUSTRALIA
Hon. Scott Morrison
MP Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet
THE STERLING GROUP COLLAPSE: $28.6 Million Compensation ROYAL COMMISSION INTO THE Australian Securities and Investment Commission (“ASIC”)
Dear Mr. Morrison,
I wrote you a letter addressed to your self via registered mail on the 15th July 2019
I also wrote one to your right-hand man the treasurer Mr. Frydenberg on the 5th July 2019
Plus, the chairman of ASIC Mr. Shipton on the 25th June 2019
As of today, the 6th august2019 I have received one response a generated email from the treasury on the 26th July 2019
Prime Minister this response was not even worth the paper it was written just a generic piece of useless information
But on the upside, I found a use for it
It helped start my fire Prime Minister as I have limited funds now and cannot afford fire lighters...

Recent posts from this category

I hope you managed to purchase a copy of this very important magazine article. A five page feature on MORTGAGE FRAUD. Bank Rolled AUSTRALIAN MAGAZINE Greg Bearup & Anthony Klan Saturday 30/6/2018
The most FAQ: HAVE YOU EVER WONDERED HOW and WHY HAYNE WAS PREVENTED FROM CALLING DENISE BRAILEY TO THE STAND?
Given my extensive background into the Mortgage Fraud complaints during the past 18 years people ask why I have not been called to the Royal Commission which started with my pleading to Tony Abbott to call a RC in 2013. Instead we were given a "Hockey Roots and Branch Fiasco" run by the head of the CARTEL David Murray who ha zero integrity in taking that position. In March 2016, I wrote 8 page letter on why consumers are desperate for a Royal Commission. Unlike Abbott, Shorten responded immediately. His 2IC called me on a Sunday night (2nd April) and...

YES FOLKS Its illegal to expose the things that public servants and their puppet masters have been illegally engaging in. If you are a public servant whistleblower and you try and expose your Mindless Masters for corruption and illegal activity, you will be the one hanged...................Should we bring back the STOCKS in Martin Place? No not the ASX stocks..........................old fashioned naming and shaming in public square!...

If the Australian public's demands for a Royal Commission into the Australian banking sector are going to be ignored, the power to demand the truth will be felt at the coming election. As the old saying goes, give them enough rope....
...

Recent posts from this category

Dear members
For once the shoe is on the other foot, in the online magazine 'The Advisor" ( just google it) brokers and advisors are whinging and bleating poor me after being caught out by a former financial industry person turned scammer. When I first started reading the article I assumed it must of been large sums of money but no it sums of a thousand dollars or less.
These poor souls are calling on everyone from ASIC to the police to act to bring this known fraudster to account, they are victims of fraud and want the courts to act. Well, well welcome to our world and we aren't talking little piddling amounts of less than a thousand dollars, we're talking in excess of a million dollars in some cases.
The irony of this story is a lot of these people are the very people we trusted and yet they...